The Martian, Andy Weir. Paperback.

Impressive, Captivating, Ingenious.

I eagerly tore through Andy Weir’s real-science fiction debut from start to finish, despite my own scientific and mathematical illiteracy. I was impressed with protagonist Mark Watney’s creative solutions to the seemingly endless obstacles Weir threw his way, and felt that I, too, was stranded on Mars, joining Watney on each harrowing leg of his quest to survive.

Weir’s writing is quick-witted and accessible, even with its heavy-handed focus on incredibly technical science and engineering terminology. This novel could still, however, use a touch of the Humanities to balance out the Sciences: Weir’s ancillary characters were thinly drawn, and Watney, for all he faced, displayed the emotional capacity of a NASA-engineered robot.

Still, I found this to be an entertaining read, which left me thinking about the mysteries of our universe and our capacity to explore its depths. I won’t, however, be signing up for any space tourism in the future. Best to leave that to the pros.

Favorite Quotation: “I need to ask myself, ‘What would an Apollo astronaut do?’ He’d drink three whiskey sours, drive his Corvette to the launchpad, then fly to the moon in a command module smaller than my Rover. Man those guys were cool.”